Passover mandelbrot is usually something my mom makes, but this year I decided to give a new recipe a whirl. Unlike Aunt Helen’s (non-Passover) Mandelbrot [1], this one is made using a mixer rather than a bowl and wooden spoon, but let’s just not tell her that, OK? Thanks!
This recipe was easy to make and work with, and the end result is crispy, chocolately, and pretty damn good! (Of course, the real test will be when we taste test them against my mom’s recipe. Stay tuned.) I left mine in the oven for about an hour once it was turned off, but if you don’t want yours so crispy, just take them out earlier.
Ingredients
1/2 pound unsalted butter or nondairy margarine, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups matzoh cake meal
3/4 cup potato starch
4 cups (two 12-ounce bags) semisweet chocolate chips
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray it.
- Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl several times. Then beat in the vanilla Reduce the speed to low, and add the cake meal and potato starch. Scrape the bowl, and blend just until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. (If the dough feels too sticky to handle even with floured hands, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it is stiff, 30 minutes to several hours.)
- Divide the dough into four portions. Flour your hands with cake meal, and form each portion into a log the length of the baking sheet. Space the logs evenly on the prepared baking sheet, and bake on the center oven rack until they are golden and the tops are firm to the touch, about 30 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the logs cool for three minutes. Then, using a serrated knife, cut each log on the diagonal into 3/4-inch thick slices. Place the slices, cut side down, on the baking sheet and bake on the center oven rack until golden brown, 10 minutes. Turn the cookies onto the unbaked side. Turn the oven off and put the baking sheet back in the oven. Leave it there for 15 to 30 minutes for softer mandelbrot, longer for crisper ones. Let the mandelbrot cool completely on the sheet set on a wire rack before serving.
Recipe from Cooking Jewish [2].